AP reports on the detention of writer Yu Jie:
A best-selling author who is a fierce critic of the Communist Party said he was taken into custody by police Monday and threatened with a stiff prison term if he goes ahead with plans to publish a book critical of Premier Wen Jiabao.
Yu Jie said he was questioned at a police station near his Beijing home for four hours by agents that included plainclothes officers from state security forces.
“The state security people said Wen Jiabao isn’t a normal citizen, he’s the premier, so criticizing him hurts the nation’s interests and security,” Yu told The Associated Press. “(They said) I could be given a heavy sentence like Liu Xiaobo.”
Liu, also an author-dissident, is currently serving an 11-year sentence for inciting to subvert state power.
Read also coverage by the New York Times.
